Microsoft appoints new head of marketing for Xbox
Yusuf Mehdi promoted to CMO of Interactive Entertainment Business
Microsoft has promoted company veteran Yusuf Mehdi to chief Marketing officer for its Interactive Entertainment Business, which includes the Xbox division.
According to internal e-mails obtained by AllThingsD, Mehdi will leave his current role as chief audience officer in the Online Services division due to the retirement of Mike Delman, the IEB's senior vice president of marketing.
"While there's never a great time to lose a valued leader, the time is right for Mike and the business to transition as we embark on our next journey to significantly grow our business in the next five years," said IEB president Don Mattrick of Delman.
Mehdi worked in the online services division for ten years. He was instrumental in the "early days" and development of MSN, Live Search, the launch of Bing, and helped close important deals with Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter and Nokia.
In the e-mails, Qi Lu, head of Online Services, described him as, "a trusted partner, from whom I have learned a tremendous amount about marketing, the industry, and Microsoft."
The switch will take place on December 5 this year. Mehdi will then report to Mattrick.